Behind the Mask
by methebookaddict
Summary: Percy has lived a lie for the past two years. Not that any of the millions of fans that screamed his, Nico and Jason's names knew that. To them he was the bad boy of the band. What they don't know is it's all a front, courtesy of Hades. Now the three are back at high school. Will this 'bad boy' keep this lie up or will someone finally get him to stand up and be who he really is?R:T
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: Okay so I've written a couple stories in my young youthful life and I realized SO many people have written about a band. So I thought about it and was like: What the hell! This is my version of Percy being in a band. I will try my best to make sure its NOT one of those cliches. No offense to anyone! I do admit I've read my fair share of them and enjoyed some. Anyways, I will try and put a twist on things. Okay now I'm done talking. **

**Disclaimer: I own nothing. **

I warmed up back stage, hopping side to side and rotating my head. The thousands of screaming fans outside fueling me. I did my annual warm-up like I did every time before a show.

I glanced at Nico who did his own routine: Laying down on a red couch and drumming out to punk songs. Gods knows how the idiot (don't take it the wrong way. I love the guy.) became part of one of the biggest bands in the world. It seemed appropriate however since he was our drummer and sang for some songs. But hey, we are not a boy band. I repeat we are not a boy band!

If you haven't guessed it yet. I'm Percy Jackson. Yeah, the Percy Jackson. One third of _The Olympic Rush_. Okay, I'll give you ten seconds to go ahead and laugh at the name. I know I did when our manager Hades decided it was perfect for us.

Jason came up to me, "Ready Percy?" he grinned.

He had the surfer vibe going for him with his blonde hair that he had up in a 'Cody Simpson' kind of way, but shorter, and blue eyes. He was the only one between the three of us who had a tattoo. Not that it was big. It was a tattoo of an eagle under his forearm. He joked it was a mistake after a wild party, but I knew it wasn't. Jason was the more serious one from the three of us.

I nodded, "You know it."

Nico joined us as the voice counted down for us. At zero we jogged onstage, with me in front. If it was possible, the crowd grew louder.

"What's up L.A!" I shouted and the crowd cheered louder.

I grinned enjoying the sound of the crowd before starting off with our newest hit _I want you bad. _After a few more songs we ended it with an old one_: Paranoid. _

After the show, we went backstage. I grabbed a rag wiping off some sweat. We were all drenched in sweat and breathing heavily. Whoever said singing wasn't a sport obviously hasn't been on stage before.

"The crowd loved us!" Nico shouted grinning wide.

"Don't they always?" I joked falling onto Nico's couch.

"Nah guys, this time was different. They really _really _loved us." Jason stated sitting on an armchair.

I knew what he meant. Nico did too. We've been gaining more and more fans every concert and album we've dropped. We were getting bigger and the tour hadn't even started yet.

Before I could respond everyone got quiet. No noise came from outside our room. There was only was thing-or person-that had that affect on people.

Hades.

We all stood up together as we heard his footsteps coming closer. Believe me, I hated the guy, but even I was scared of him. It was worse for Nico though. He was Hade's son.

The door opened and in came the man himself. He was large just like his brothers Zeus (Jason's father) and Poseidon (my dad). Zeus owned his own airline and was rich. My dad was in the same business but with boats and ships. Hades was our manager though.

"We need to talk," that was his big greeting. No 'hi' or 'great show!'

"Hades! Always a pleasure to meet my least favorite uncle." I piped in, my hatred taking over the frightened side of me.

He glared at me before continuing, "It's come to my attention you guys have been losing fans and the paparazzi haven't been paying that much attention to you."

We stared at him blankly, Nico as pale as a bed sheet. The guy hated his dad, but never had the nerve to say anything. I didn't agree with his statement, but even I wasn't stupid enough to interrupt him when he was talking.

"Now I have a plan to get us back on track." Hades had his signature evil smirk on his face now.

"And that is?" It was Jason now. His face resembled mine. The only time Hades talked to us directly was when there was bad news. And I did not like the smile on his face.

"You're going back to school."

"What?!" The three of us spoke out at the same time.

Hades nodded almost looking bored now, "The press will eat it up. And don't try arguing. It's all set up and you're leaving for New York tonight. The tours cancelled."

I gaped, my mouth opening and closing. I had no idea how to feel about this. I loved New York and I could visit my mom! But cancelling the tour? Who the hell does that?

"But we're not losing our fans! If anything, we're getting _more _popular." It was Jason that gained his voice first.

"Not according to magazines. Turns out you've been kicked off the top ten artists."

"Wonder whose fault that is." I grumbled.

Hades snapped his head toward me giving me his death glare. I think he heard me. "And listen Perseus," I cringed at my full name, "You better keep up your act in New York. No 'nice guy.'" Hades warned.

I glared at him, my jaw clenched. From the corner of my eyes I could see the guys giving me looks of sympathy, "And what if I don't?"

Hades growled, "I own you until you're 21. Your job is to listen to me. Your leaving in fifteen." With that he left leaving us by ourselves.

After a tense moment of silence, Nico broke it. "High school eh? New York better watch out. Three bad asses be coming its way."

Jason laughed and I smiled.

It was true my dad had given all ownership of me, like I was a damn dog, until I was 21. As my manager, he could do just about anything. Did i mention he had all the power over the money I made until I was 21? I haven't seen my father in four years and I wasn't going to go complaining to him now. It wasn't like he cared about me. Why else would he leave me in the hands of Hades and go half way across the world?

I remembered back to two years ago. We were in the same situation and Hades had a brilliant idea. He wanted to change our 'image.' We refused, but he had none of it. As a counteroffer he said one of us will have to be the 'bad boy; of the band. You know the guy that "doesn't give a shit. The world class jerk/player." Guess who he chose? You guess it! It was me and that's exactly what every fan out there thinks of me for the last two years. The clique 'bad boy.' Basically my whole life was a lie. I hated acting like that, but I had no choice.

Like Hades said, the press ate it up. The story that came out of it was this was mostly due to my 'painful' breakup with model and actress Calypso. The breakup got me good and now I was off the rails. No serious reltaionships, parties. Blah blah blah. Honestly, the break up was mutual and we decided to stay friends until Hades got involved. Now I wasn't so much as to text Calypso. She was the only one other then the band, Hades and my mom who knew about the 'bad boy' act.

_Hades is a dick. _As she put it.

I laughed at the memory.

**First chapter is done! Just a filler and I prmoise things will heat up in the next two or three chapters. Review. They make me happy :) Farewell for now! Review to let me know if I should coninue. **

**Just so you know, I will not be putting all the lyrics of every song I mention in this story. I personally find that useless but mostly its just too much work..BLAH. I will however, put the song name and the artist if you want to listen to it.**

**Song Mentioned: I Want You Bad-R5 & Paranoid-Jonas Brothers **


	2. Chapter 2

**Diclaimer: I own nothing that doesnt come from my imagination. **

**P.S. Hades will be one of the bad guys in this story. Sorry for those of you who like him, but hey it had to be someone. Now you may continue. **

My eyes opened as something hit me hard in the ribs. I picked it up the football one of them threw.

"And he's awake! Told you it would take at least three hits." I recognized that voice as Nico's.

"That's cuz you hit like my dead grandma." Jason argued.

Getting up, I threw the ball at Nico's head. It was right on target. He glared at me. "Oh shit. You were already awake." I grinned.

Jason laughed as Nico rubbed his head.

I looked at the both of them. Jason was in cargo shorts and a tank. Nico had on his dark jeans, black shirt with the band _Green Day _on it and his signature skull ring on his finger. Yes, he was the Goth one in the band with his black eyes and long black hair.

I stared at them for a while and our surrounding before it hit me. We were in our private jet headed to school.

I groaned at the thought. "Why do we have to go to high school?"

The guys looked at me an amused grin on each of their faces. "Will you look at that? Percy Jackson are you letting the 'bad boy' routine get to your thick head?" Jason mused.

I glared at him, "Stuff it." Let's just say I wasn't so happy to be the bad boy for eight or whatever hours a day.

That's when the airplane lady came in. "Mr. Jackson. We will be arriving shortly. You must get ready."

I looked down at myself. I was wearing basketball shorts and a white t-shirt, "What's wrong with what I'm wearing?"

The lady who was in her late thirties gave me a once over her eyebrows scrunching together, "With all due respect Mr. Jackson, but even you can't pull that off at a school." with that she turned and walked through the door.

I stared, dumbfounded as the guys fell on the floor cracking up.

**Annabeth **

"What are we even doing here?" Thalia grumbled leaning back against the brick wall of the school building, one leg up against it.

"Where else do we have to be?" I asked standing next to her and watching the group of mainly girls surround the front of the road where TOR (The Olympic Rush) were to arrive.

Yes, you heard right. The teenage heartthrobs who've captured hearts everywhere are going to Goode High! Isn't that like the most awesome thing ever! Let me answer that for you: No. Don't get me wrong, some of their songs were pretty good, but the guys…It's not like I knew them, but I knew someone similar. They'd do anything to keep their fame.

"Sleep." Thalia growled. She was not a morning person.

"Don't you even want to see your brother?" Jason Grace was Thalia's brother and once word got out, there were a lot of posers trying to become besties with Thalia.

"I saw him during Christmas!" she defended.

I rolled my eyes, "that was five months ago."

Before she could respond, the crowd of fans started screaming their lungs off and we were about thirty feet away from them.

From all the people around, I could barely make out a black limo parked. Then came the guys. First it was Nico di' Angelo, the drummer and backup vocalist. Right after came Jason Grace, lead guitarist. They were both grinning and signing autographs. Lastly came the lead singer, Percy Jackson. The band's own personal bad boy and player. Unlike the other two, he was not all smiles. He did a once over and looked bored out of his mind.

I didn't realize I was staring at him until our eyes connected. I was thirty feet away, but there was no doubt he was looking at me. Even from back here I could confirm all those magazines. His eyes were the deepest sea green.

"Can we go?" Thalia asked.

Finally, I broke the connection and stared at her, "What?"

"Let's go." Thalia pushed off the wall and lead the way into school.

I followed without another glance at the band.

The Olympic Rush-welcome to high school.

LadeedaaLadeedaaLadeedaaLadeedaaLadeedaaLadeedaa

**Percy**

I kept my face straight as we walked through the crowd of fans. I could hear my name being called through dozens of girl's mouth. I watched as Nico and Jason signed autographs and grinned. I knew they didn't like all this, but I was still jealous. I could be like that to.

I could keep complaining, but that was it. Life wasn't fair-even if you were a star. I dealt with it for two years now. I was getting used to this.

I took the black shades that were hooked to my green shirt and put them on. I was regretting wearing my dark blue ripped jeans now. It was getting hot. My leather jacket didn't help much.

We finally got to the front door and made our way in. I couldn't help myself but look for that girl. I barely saw her for like ten seconds and yet there was something different about her. Maybe it was the fact she wasn't surrounding us like the rest of the girls. Yeah, that was probably it. I mean we were famous singers afterall.

We finally got away from the screaming fans as we entered the office. The secretary looked over at us grinning and saying how she was all happy we decided to come to school at Goode. I leaned against the desk and Jason put on his charm and talked to her. I could hear something about a niece that was a huge fan.

Then I saw the girl sitting a couple feet away from us. Her mouth was open as she stared at us, mostly me. She probably didn't get the memo.

I smirked, taking off my glasses and looked at her. She stared at me and gulped.

"Hey," I spoke. She looked younger than me. Maybe a year or two.

"I-uh-you-percy." She stuttered.

"Yeah, that's me. Does a pretty girl like you have a name?" She was actually pretty with her long dark hair and her light brown eyes. She didn't have much makeup on which I was grateful for. I wasn't into her, but it was always fun to get a fan all worked up.

"T-Teddy." She answered.

"Nice name." it was Nico that butted into our conversation.

She turned her attention to him, "You're Nico." It came out more like a question.

"Yup. The star drummer and way better looking than his sidekick Percy." Nico boasted.

I stood up straighter, "Don't listen to him. He says crazy things when talking one on one with a girl. He knows I'm the looks of the band. Isn't that right Teddy?" I winked at her referring back to a magazine a couple weeks back that voted me better looking than my partners in crime.

She couldn't speak but nodded as I grinned.

"That was one magazine!" Nico argued.

"Okay! Let's get out of here. Think you two have harassed the girl enough." Jason gave the girl a quick grin before steering us out.

Out in halls, I was thankful the bell had rung and we were the only ones in the hallways. Taking his arms off us, Jason unraveled what looked like a map.

"Are we supposed to read that? How big is this school?" Nico asked in shock.

"I don't know man. The lady said to get our schedules from the library. Here" Jason shoved the map to me.

I grabbed it and looked at it. All I saw were rectangles and more rectangles. My ADHD and Dyslexia didn't help me with any of this. I stared at it for a couple seconds before putting it away.

"Follow me, kids." I took the lead walking in front.

After a couple of random guesses we found the library.

I grinned at the building, "Found it."

"Congratulations Percy. It only took twenty minutes." Nico shoved me.

"Like you could do better." I said over my back pushing the door open.

As I pushed it, I heard a _thump _from the other side. I saw a girl losing her footing and fall backwards.

**Chapter 2 is up! I will warn you the first couple chapters wont have too much in them, but I will be updating quickly for a couple weeks. So review and tell what you think! **


	3. Chapter 3

**Previously on last week's update (I love it when shows do that! SHMUR continue): **

"_Like you could do better." I said over my back pushing the door open. _

_As I pushed it, I heard a thump from the other side. I saw a girl losing her footing and fall backwards. _

I know what you might be thinking. I used my super quick reflexes and caught her…Oh gods, how I wish that was what happened..

I stared dumfounded as the girl fell backwards and onto the floor. I was still in shock after she hit the ground with a _thwack_. Her long blonde hair was sprawled across her face. Her orange shirt was raised a bit and her legs were bent in an awkward way.

She moved her hair out of her way and that's when I saw her eyes. Her unsettling, yet mesmerizing gray eyes. I think I would have kept staring if it wasn't for the fact that she was glaring at me.

I snapped back into reality, "Uh..um here." I muttered lending out my hand to help her. I could hear the guys snicker behind me.

"Good one Percy." I could feel myself turning red at Jason's comment.

"I'm fine." It was the girl. She refused my hand and got up herself.

"Are you okay?" I asked.

The girl turned to me, murder in her eyes, "Just perfect."

"Well you should have watched where you were going." It slipped out before I knew what I was saying. Apparently it was the wrong thing to say.

"Me? You're the dumbass that tackled the door." the girl all but shouted.

My blood boiled. This was _not _my fault. There were two doors for a reason. "Uh-um. Excuse me but do you boys need anything?" It was the librarian who was watching this whole scene.

"We're The Olympic Rush." Nico said that coming up from behind me along with Jason.

The librarians eyes widened a little and she nodded. She started typing away on her computer. I looked back at the girl waiting for the realization to go through her and start screaming or fan girling. But when I looked at her, she was still angry as ever. She shoved past me and was just about to leave when the librarian called her back.

"Annabeth." The girl-Annabeth- stopped and turned around.

"Yes, Ms. Curry?" she asked.

"Will you be so kind and help these young men around campus. They have the same first class as you." The librarian asked her eyes hopeful. I looked back at Annabeth who looked ready to argue.

"Oh that would be so jolly. We are so confused around here. Isn't that right, Percy?" Nico swung his arm around me as I glared at him. I would get him back for this.

Annabeth sighed in defeat, "Sure, Ms. Curry."

"Thank you. Here you boys go." She handed us each a card with our classes on them. "Welcome to Goode."

"Sweet, we have 1st, 3rd, and 5th together." Nico piped in as we followed Annabeth out. I hung back walking slower than the rest.

"I'm Nico by the way."

"And I'm Jason. That idiot is Percy." Jason winked back at me.

Annabeth looked at the two guys that were on both sides of her now. After a couple seconds of silence she spoke, "Nice to meet you guys." she glanced back at me telling me she wasn't referring to me.

Okay, I don't know why I was so angry. She was the one who fell, but it wasn't totally my fault. Was it? She was just unlucky to be in the way when my anger struck. It happened at times when I would just snap and let all my anger out at a random person.

"I'm Annabeth Chase." She introduced herself. I watched her blonde princess curls bounce as she walked. They reminded me of someone. I just couldn't remember who.

"Wait! Annabeth? As in my sister's best friend Annabeth?" Jason asked.

For the first time Annabeth grinned, "That's the one."

"Wait you know the new girl? That's not fair!" Nico whined.

Annabeth raised her eyebrows, "You're actually the new guy."

"Not really." I butted in. Sometimes I just couldn't keep my mouth closed.

The three looked back at me in confusion. "Well, uh-" I rubbed the back if my neck, "the whole school kinda already know us." I smiled weakly.

The guys cracked up at my lame explanation and Annabeth just rolled her eyes. Guess I'm still not forgiven.

"We're here." Annabeth stopped at a door and turned toward us.

Nico and Jason immediately stopped laughing as we stood together. I already knew we weren't going to enjoy the first few minutes of class. Fans were great. But when you're entering a classroom full of them…that's a no go. We were trained, as funny as it sounds, to look for escape routed when fans became too overwhelming. A classroom only had one exit. The door.

Without warning, Annabeth opened the door and walked into class. I took the lead and followed after. As we walked in the classroom got silent.

They stared at us as we stared back.

"Do we say hi?" Nico whispered to me.

I shrugged, "Hey everyone we're The Olympic Rush." I still hated the name. "I guess we're the new students." I laughed halfheartedly.

The class was silent for a second.

"Well clas-" the teacher started, but was cut off by the sudden shouts, mostly from the girls. Annabeth looked over at us, shrugged, and walked to her seat in the back. _Great._

We stared in awe as the girls shouted, some texting away frantically. Some of the guys looked interested but most were just glaring at us like: _Why the fuck do the girls even like you?_ Probably the money and stardom, dudes.

I watched as the hurricane formed in front of us. This was exactly why we never did school. Before I could blink, the girls seem to have a silent signal because they all ran for us.

"Run!" Jason yelled.

We didn't hesitate to follow him out the door with the girls following after us.

PAGEBREAKPAGEBREAKDONTMINDMEJUSTAPAGEBREAKPAGEBREA K

We had to split up as we ran through the halls. I had finally lost the girls hiding in the restrooms. It wasn't until I was in, did I notice I was in the wrong one. Thank the gods no one was in there.

I slowly walked out looking both ways. I was in the clear. I started making my way back to class. Just as I got there the bell rang. Students started to file out. Before they could notice who I was, I put on my hoodie. And Jason always wondered why I wore my leather jacket. I smirked thinking where he might have been chased off to.

I stood outside my homeroom waiting. When I saw the familiar blonde curls, I pulled her aside. She looked taken back until she saw it was me. "Nice disguise." She commented without a trace of humor.

I shrugged, "It was all I got." She stared at me waiting for me to explain why I stopped in the middle of all the traffic of students. "Can you help me to my next class?"

She stared at me for a while. I might have looked pretty desperate since she agreed, "Let me see your schedule."

I smiled grateful and handed it over. She looked at it, her eyebrows scrunched together, but I couldn't read her expression. "I have the same class. Come on." She handed back my schedule and made her way through the crowd.

I followed after her matching her long strides, "Look," I sighed, "I'm sorry for the library incident. I should have watched where I was going." I was never good with apologies and giving them, but for some reason I didn't want Annabeth to hate me.

She turned to me her eyes softening just a bit, "Its fine. There were two doors. I should have been watching where I was going." I told you there were two doors!

I grinned, "Friends?"

Annabeth looked at me peculiarly, "Friends with the bad boy huh? How did I get so lucky?" This time I could hear the amusement in her voice. But my face still fell. This wasn't right. I wasn't one to say sorry or ask to be friends with someone. Especially a girl I met just two hours ago.

I shrugged not saying anything now which got me an even weirder look from her. "Is this the class?" I asked before she had time to say anything. We had stopped in front of another classroom.

She nodded, "Good luck this time." Without looking back she walked in.

After a slight hesitation, I followed suit and stopped at the front desk. I was surprised to see the teacher. How did I not see his name before?

"Paul?" I questioned.

He turned around slightly surprised, but then a smile emerged. "Percy. Great to see you again." he gave me a small hug. "Your mom's overwhelmed to finally see you."

I grinned at the mention of her. It's been a couple months since I've seen her last. After my dad, and a bad marriage to a punk, she married Paul Blowfis. He made her happy so I liked him. "I hope you're treating her right." I pretended to act stern and he cracked another smile.

"Always, Percy." a while back Paul had flown all the way out to New Jersey for one of my concerts just to ask my permission to marry my mom. That's how I knew he actually cared about her _and _me.

It suddenly occurred to me it was dead silent in the class. I turned just as Paul did to see the whole class gawking at us. I guess they didn't know their English teacher was my step-dad. It was actually pretty hilarious to see all their faces.

Paul-Mr. Blowfis-cleared his throat. "Class this is Percy Jackson which I presume most of you already know. Percy you could take a seat in the back by Thalia." Thalia? I hadnt seen her in forever.

"I love you guys-"

"I have all your albums!"

"You're hot-"

"Where's Nico?"

My head snapped in every direction of the person that suddenly spoke, overhwhelmed with everything.

"Now class. Percy and his err band mates are here to be treated like normal students." Paul cut in raising his voice. I silently thanked him as the noise reluctantly dies down.

I nodded and made my way through the rows with people now whispering to each other and looking at me. I looked up to see the empty seat right in between Thalia and the one and only Annabeth.

As I stared at the two I finally realized why Annabeth looked so familiar. She and Thalia were the two girls that looked like they didn't give a crap about us when we first arrived.

_You sure know how to pick them Jackson._

**If only a star attending my school. *Sigh* now that would be something to fangirl over. Hehe..Anyways! That is chapter three and I have a few questions for you guys. First off, T\this is not going to be a whole lot about Nico and Jason but I would still like your opinion on who you want them to end up with. Jason+Piper/Reyna? And Nico? Poor guy, Thalia's his cousin in this story. So if you review tell me who you want them to be with! **


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer: I do not own PJO**

I was practically jumping out of my skin at the mention of lunch. I was walking next to Jason and Nico following the crowd into the cafeteria. We tried not to notice everyone staring in awe.

I looked over at Nico suppressing a smile. Unlike me and Jason he didn't take well with the fans. Turns out he wasn't as fast as the girls. His jeans were now ripped jeans and he was wearing a bright blue shirt since someone 'stole' his _Green Day _one. He was a grumpy mess.

We walked inside and hopped in the burger line. Gods even school food was sounding good to me. I was starving. Once we paid for our food we stood side by side looking out at all the tables. Just like in all those movies and shows, there were tables full of different people. The smart geeks, drama club, the populars, etc.

I looked around looking for a table for us. A guy from the populars called us over. I looked at Nico and Jason. Nico shrugged but Jason was still searching. His eyes widened a little, "Come on." He led the way as we followed.

We past every single table and I could feel eyes on us. I was starting to wonder where Jason was leading us when I spotted the very last table in the corner. It was full of the most peculiar people I've ever seen and yet they all fit together in an odd way.

"Have room for three more?" Jason spoke giving a small smile. I looked over at all the people and realized why he chose this table. Right next to Annabeth was his sister Thalia.

They all looked at each other, "I don't know. This table is pretty exclusive." It was Thalia that spoke. She was basically the girl version of Nico. She looked the same she did three years ago just taller.

"Even for your own bro?" Jason looked shocked.

Thalia and the rest shared a look. There were about fifteen of them all together. "Fine, but first you have to sing a song."

I raised my eyebrows looking at Nico and asked, "What?"

Thalia nodded dead serious, "Eye of the Tiger to be exact."

I rubbed the back of my neck, "Err-no?"

"Then find another table."

"Come on Thals. Does it help if I say you're my favorite cousin?" I grinned.

"Hey!" Jason and Nico looked offended.

I shrugged. "That does help." Thalia smirked and motioned for us to sit down. _And that's how you sweet talk your cousin_. We took the empty slots by her as the others scooted over.

"What's up guys. I'm Beckendorf." A large buff guy spoke first.

I nodded to him along with Nico who still grumpy about the shirt he was wearing. Jason greeted him. Then all at once, they spoke all saying their names.

"Woah, woah, woah." Thalia spoke cutting everyone off. "Geez one at a time. Guys," she looked at us, "This is Annabeth, that's Katie, Grover, Juniper,Reyna." And on and on Thalia went saying names that were going straight over my head.

I looked over at two twin guys who were grinning at us. On instinct I checked for my wallet. There was a girl that was, I hate to admit it, but more muscular than me. I didn't take it too bad since she was bigger than most of the other guys as well. I think her name was Clary or something. At the end of the table, I froze.

Right by the dude Beckendorf was a blonde grinning at me.

"Silena?" I asked looking over at her. It was definitely her. The last I saw of her was at a party I went to with Calypso. It was for models which Silena actually was due to her mom, Aphrodite.

"Nice to see you too Percy." She said.

"You go to school here?" I had a worried smile on my face. Now that was one familiar face I didnt think I would see again. You would think Silena was one of those _I only care about me _kind of person, but she used to be one of my closest friends. We had done crazy stuff when we were in the same room. I know what you might be thinking, but no. We were just friends never anything else.

"Since I was 14." Silena admitted.

"You didn't tell me you knew Percy?" It was Beckendorf now. It was now I noticed his arm was around her waist. My eyes widened at the realization. So this was the guy Silena kept going on about. I smirked. _Well good for you Silena. _

"That's because I didn't think I would hear from him again." Silena stared at me accusingly. I could feel myself getting red. I might have stopped answering her messages when Hades changed my image. The look on her face told me I hadn't heard the end of her.

"Hey!" Thalia yelled. I looked over at her, "If you don't mind Kelp Head but I would like to finish the introductions."

I winced at the nickname I hadn't heard for a long time. Annabeth laughed, "Kelp Head?"

I scowled at her and Thalia smirked, "As I was saying..that's-" I tried to pay attention, but all the names went through one ear and out the other.

It took a while, but I found I enjoyed these guys. They were cool. I could tell Jason and Nico felt the same way. Jason for some reason kept glancing at a brown haired girl on the opposite side of the table.

AhahddicjdPage Breakersjhjjdeofdkw

I looked up at my mom's house. It was big due to fact that I wanted to spoil her a bit. After all she did everything for me.

I knocked on the door and waited. The door opened and my mom was there her warm smile greeting us. "Percy!" She wrapped me up in a hug, "I'm so glad to see you."

"Hey mum." I hugged her back enjoying the moment.

"Hey Ms. Jackson! You look wonderful as usual." Jason complemented looking over my shoulder.

"How would you know? You three barely come home." My mom chided giving Nico and Jason their hugs as well. To my mom we were all her kids. I knew Jason and Nico liked that since their dads were just like mine and nowhere to be found unless they needed something. This was their home as well as mine.

"Did you make any cookies?" Nico asked excitement in his voice.

My ears perked up at the mention of cookies. I looked over at my mom as she laughed at all our expressions. We loved cookies, "In the kitchen."

I ran ahead of the others into the house and found the plate full of blue cookies. Picking up a handful I started eating them. Gods, you have not lived until you've tasted A Sally Jackson blue cookie.

"You know what I haven't done in a while" Nico said with his mouth full. We stared at him waiting, "Swam."

Now that was an understatement. On the road there wasn't time to stop anywhere and go swimming. And I loved the water.

Ten minutes later we were all in shorts. Nico and Jason were already in the water. I, however, was standing on the edge with the plate of cookies. I finished the last one off before jumping in with them.

We played for a while when the back door opened. All three of us turned to see four girls and a guy in their swim suits ready for a swim. I felt my mouth drop open as I stared at one girl in particular with gray eyes. She was in a gray bikini showing off her skinny frame and tanned legs. She was looking back at me her eyebrows raised. I turned away turning completely red.

"Mind if we join you pop stars?" Thalia asked already making herself comfortable on a beach chair. I looked at the others. The guy was Grover. I remembered him from before all the fame took over and we lost touch. Next to him was a girl I hadn't seen before but she was holding Grover's hand. Then there was Silena who was smirking at me like she knew something I didn't.

The girls took the beach chairs as Grover came over to us.

"Hey guys." He greeted.

"What's up G-Man." I grinned. You might be thinking why I wasn't freaked out that five teenagers were in my house and acting like they lived here. Well that's because one of them did. Once Jason found out his sister was living off by herself, he all but hauled her over to my house. My mom didn't mind and after a while I guess Thalia was glad as well. They were family after all.

He jumped in with us and we started a game of Marco Polo, but I couldn't help but keep glancing at Annabeth which got me tagged a lot.

"Hey Percy," It was Annabeth. I turned to her completely losing focus in the volleyball game we were playing, "You got a call from um…jerkface?" she had my phone in her hand and it was indeed ringing. Thalia let out a laugh at the name but everyone else just looked confused.

I turned toward Jason and Nico. They had stopped playing too and had a perplexed expression on their faces.

I got out of the pool and walked over. "Annabeth?" I said waiting for her to give me the phone. She was staring at me before snapping out of it. I smirked. It wasn't like I was ripped with a six pack or anything, but I was fit.

"Here." She said handing me the phone.

I answered and waited for the bad news that always came with a call from Hades.

**Okay! So this was mostly a filler giving you guys details that will be important in the future but I tried to put some kind of Percabeth in here for all of those who cant live without it...you know who you are ;) Please REVIEW they mean alot! Other than that, stay tuned for the next chapter! **


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer: I do now own PJO**

Turns out Hades called to congratulate on us on the recent press around us and Goode High. Maybe he had changed a bit. Oh wait; there was the fact that he called _only_ me to tell me "Not to screw this up."

I scowled at the memory.

"For today's assignment each pair of partners will get an assigned Greek god and will have to find something out in the city that resembles the said god." Chiron our history teacher was one of the coolest teachers at this school. He was this guy that always smiled like he knew a secret we didn't. He was in a wheelchair and had a cool fury beard. He joked around a lot and I could honestly say I learned more from him than any other teacher, even Paul. Plus he let us call him Chiron.

"Got it? Good. Usually I will let you choose your partner," I saw several heads turn my way mostly female, all excited and waiting to pounce. I shrank back in my chair not at all pleased by their predatory expressions, "-but due to some recent events I'm going to pick for you." Chiron looked straight at me and winked. I silently thanked him.

A series of groans came from the class. Obviously they weren't as glad as I was about this whole situation.

Chiron started off reading the names of the partners. I laughed as Thalia's name was read off with one of the 'it' girls at this school. She glared at me as I grinned at her cheekily.

"Percy Jackson with Silena Beaugard." I froze in my seat at the mention of my partner. It was no secret I was avoiding being alone with Selena. I wasn't exactly the best at apologies and it was no question I owed her one but I knew she would have too many questions. Questions I couldn't answer truthfully. Thank you Chiron.

"I know some of you are not happy so I will allow mutual trading. "The pictures are due by tomorrow and you have ten days to require information and present." Chiron offered just to cut off most of the groans.

I turned toward Silena who had a triumphant look in her eyes, "Hey Percy," I turned to the sound of Beckendorf's voice, "Wanna switch?"

"Yes." I didn't even think about it. The word flew out of my mouth like it had its own agenda.

Beckendorf chuckled, "You know you're going to have to face her sooner or later. Silena gets her way, always."

"Thank the gods that day is not today. Who's my new partner?" I asked. Oh, please don't be some obsessed fan.

Beckendorf pointed and I followed his finger to a girl deep into reading a book. An involuntary smile appeared on my face. I got up, looked over at Silena and saluted her as Beckendorf explained the trade. Silena glared at me and gave me a look that said this wasn't over.

I quickly walked over to Annabeth, "Guess we're partners." I said taking the seat next to her and leaned backwards, the front legs of the chair in the air.

She looked up from the huge dictionary she called a book and raised an eyebrow, "I thought I was with Beckendorf?"

"A mutual trade-as Chiron put in." I winked at her.

Annabeth rolled her eyes and looked over at Beck and his new partner. She understood at one glance, "Do you always get what you want?"

"Usually. Who could ever say 'no' to a face like this?" I smirked.

"More people than you think," Annabeth responded sarcastically.

"Really?" I challenged staring into her gray eyes that bore into mine.

"Really." She confirmed.

"That doesn't matter."

"Why not?"

I leaned in closer to her so we were separated by mere inches, "Because if I really wanted something, I wouldn't quit until I got it."

"One person from each pair can come up now and choose their god." Chiron said aloud, but both of us didn't move.

Annabeth stared at me intently, before she finally spoke, "Good to know." She got up as I leaned back in my chair, a smirk plastered on my face. She walked past me and with lightning speed, kicked the leg of my chair.

Off balance, I fell backwards and onto the ground.

"Whoops." Annabeth smiled innocently.

TORTORTORTORTORTORTORTORTORTORTORTORTORTORTORTORTO RTORTORTORTOR

We decided to take the bus to our destination. That way I wouldn't draw any attention. Annabeth made me go home and put on a hoodie first which I thought was ridiculous since it was hot outside.

We got the god, Zeus. I always thought it was kind of weird my dad and uncles had the same names as the Greek gods. Annabeth remembered there was a statue of him about a half hour away so we decided to take a picture of that and call it a day. We're supposed to talk about the history of whatever we take a picture of but Annabeth said she had it covered. The least I could do was go with her to take the picture. Not that I was complaining.

I followed Annabeth off the bus and finally took the hoodie of my head. Annabeth gave me a look, "Relax, no one's going to notice." I assured her. Usually whenever I went out, I was with the other two so we were easy to spot. I doubt anyone will recognize me by myself.

"You're the pop star. I'll take your word for it." She said taking the lead and moving through the crowd of people.

"You walk around like you know exactly where we're going." I observed matching her strides as she expertly turned corners.

"I used to live around here until my dad decided to move a couple years back." That explained why I never remembered her before. She probably came after I left.

"And that's when you started at Goode High." I added in.

Annabeth nodded, "At first I was mad at my dad, but it turned out he actually did something right for once."

"Trouble with your dad?" I asked.

Annabeth looked at me like she was trying to figure me out. I knew I shouldn't be acting this way, but I was curious about her. "Do you really care?"

"Hey, don't judge me so easily," I said, "I don't exactly get along with my own dad. I haven't seen him in forever."

"Dads suck." Annabeth said after a moment of silence, "Sometimes."

I cracked a grin, "Couldn't have said it better." Except mine did all the time, but I wasn't going to tell her that.

We stopped at a huge white statue. It was at least nine feet tall and towered over the both of us. Even if it was a statue, I felt like it held some kind of power. power.

"This is it." Annabeth took out her camera from the bag she was carrying around her shoulder and started to take the picture.

"Wait!" She stopped at looked at me, "Let me take it."

Annabeth stared at me like I had just grown another head, "It's a picture Seaweed Brain." Now that was a new nickname. I didn't know whether to be insulted or honored.

"Yeah, but I want to do _something_ at least." I argued. She rolled her eyes and handed me the camera. I grinned cheekily and took the picture from very best angle on the ground. Or so I thought.

"Happy?" she asked sarcastically.

"Very." I turned around ready to leave when I saw a couple of girls taking pictures of us with their phones. A little further back I could see the paparazzi approaching there cameras already flashing away.

I turned back toward Annabeth who hadn't noticed anything. She was too absorbed in the statue and the writing inscribed, "Don't look back, but um I've been made."

Annabeth shot up, "I told you to keep your hoodie on." She scolded. She was about to turn around when I grabbed her arm. Hopfully they hadn't seen her face yet.

"You don't want them to see you. Come on."With one more look back, I led her, hand in hand, in the opposite direction. Away from the paparazzi and farther away from our ride.

**So its been a while since I've been updated but that's what happens when school decides to start. Expect updates once a week and keep REVIEWing because they're good motivations and I love hearing what you guys have to say! **


	6. Chapter 6

**Disclaimer: I do not own PJO **

We ran for gods knows how long. Annabeth stopped and tugged me back, "No more. How do you even run this much?" She breathed letting go of my hand.

I was breathing heavily too. my hands joined together behind my head. _Lots of practice. _"Come on." It was getting dark now, but if I knew one thing about the paparazzi, they didn't give up.

I walked into a dark alley, looking around. There were a couple windows on each building. "Is this the part where you kill me because I'm warning you now; I know karate."

I turned back to look at her and rolled my eyes, "No. This is where the dashing hero finds a way to escape."

I walked to the building on the left and touched the windows. Considering the neighborhood we were in, I doubt the place had an alarm. _Only one way to find out. _Picking up a rock from the floor, I threw it at the window.

"What are you doing?!" Annabeth cried in shock.

As I had thought, there was no alarm. I grinned at her which I doubt see could see in the lighting, "This is what happens when you're friends with the 'bad boy'" I commented referring back to the first day we had meant.

I put my hand through the window and quickly unlocked it. Pushing it open I gestured for Annabeth to go, "Ladies first." I was starting to worry. I could hear the paparazzi getting closer.

"Oh you're such a gentlemen," sarcasm was dripping off every word. She stepped forward though probably hearing the voices too. She lifted herself in and into the building muttering something about taking back her friendship.

I followed in after and looked around. I could see the faint outline of a diner. "At least we won't starve." I joked following Annabeth's lead and sitting on the ground next to her. There were a couple of booths around us and some tables. The counter was across from us.

"I haven't ever committed a Breaking & Entering." Annabeth muttered.

"Would you believe me if I said me either?"

"Strangely no, superstar." She replied.

I sighed, "I'm sorry about this. I didn't think they'd notice me without Nico or Jason." My apology didn't earn a reply, so we sat there in silence until I couldn't take it anymore, "Do you really know karate?"

"You don't ever stop talking do you?" I could barely see her in the darkness now, but it looked like she was staring at the ceiling her head resting on the wall behind us. Her locks of blonde hair were messily draped over her shoulder and yet they seemed perfectly placed.

"It's a gift."

"I was forced to for a month until I called the instructor stupid and idiotically violent." She answered.

I laughed at her answer, "You're not like I thought you'd be." That was true. After the first day, I thought she was just like every other wise girl. Turns out she had a rebel side to her as well.

"There's a lot you don't know about me, Jackson." Annabeth got up her voice mysterious. Now that just got me more curious. I followed her back to the window. "I'm pretty sure we can leave now."

I nodded but then remembered she couldn't see me too well. "Let's go." I let Annabeth go out first. Before leaving, I quickly took out a few hundred dollars that I was allowed to spend and left them on a nearby table making sure Annabeth wasn't looking.

We got lucky and caught the nine o'clock bus. We sat in the back of the mildly filled bus. As a precaution, I put my hoodie back on. We sat in silence for a couple minutes as I stared out the window. "Let's play a game." I sat up.

Annabeth was in the seat across from me and sitting with her arms hugging her knees. She raised her eyebrows, "What kind?"

I thought for a while not expecting a 'yes' so easily. "Ten questions."

Annabeth shrugged and leaned on her knees looking bored, "Why not."

"What's your favorite color?" I asked her.

"Gray." I smirked knowing that would be her answer. "Have you seriously never committed a breaking and entering before?"

I shook my head. It went on like that for a couple questions. Nothing too personal or hard.

"How many boyfriends have you had?" I asked completely out of the blue for my seventh question.

Annabeth looked slightly taken back by the question before she answered, "Why do you care?"

I shrugged, "I'm a curious person," I urged her on.

She narrowed her eyes at me deciding what to say, "Too many to count."

I stared at her not knowing whether she was joking or not. Her face was completely serious not giving away a fraction of a smile. "That's not an answer."

"Yeah it is." Annabeth smirked. I frowned. Her answer didn't sit well with me."My turn." She turned completely serious again, "How can you act like a world class jerk and yet write all those songs that you guys sing?"

Her question was little confusing, but I knew exactly what she meant. It was a question I always thought someone would ask me. How a "jerk" like me would could ever write the kind of songs that almost every girl fantasies could be about them. "So you do listen to our songs." I decided to avoid the question.

"I never said I didn't."

"You like what you hear?" I joked.

Annabeth rolled her eyes, "Not always." My face fell at her answer. What did she mean not always? Maybe I took this to the heart since I wrote most of the songs we sang. The others were from hired writers since only so many of my songs could please Hades. She must have seen my expression because she continued, "What? Did you think you guys were my favorite band?"

"We're not?" I asked dumbfounded. I guess that's why she wasn't with the crowd on the first day. But then why did she choose to stay and watch us arrive?

"Not even close." She laughed.

I didn't believe that. I mean we may not be her favorite band. But not even close? "So what's your favorite band?"

"Easy. One Direction." She shrugged.

Now I was pretty sure my face was full of disappointment and horror. She liked them?!

"I mean they're so hot and there music is just so amazing!" She squealed like the girliest girl ever.

I narrowed my eyes at her, "You're lying."

She rolled her eyes, "What gave it away?"

"Then who is your favorite band?"

"You didn't answer my question. Why should I answer yours?" Annabeth shot back. I stayed quiet after that. "I guess the games over." she said aloud.

"Believe me, I'll find out your favorite band." I told her.

She chuckled, "Good luck."

**Challenge accepted! That was chapter six for all you amazing folks. I promise the next chapter will be longer then this one and you'll love it ;) Hopefully. Anyways! Make sure you REVIEW! They make me happy :)**


	7. Chapter 7

**Disclaimer: I do not own PJO**

It was the Friday night I decided to stay home instead of going out. I was sitting in my bean bag chair, guitar in hand and my private song journal out.

I stared at the two lines of lyrics I had. I've been in a slump ever since Goode High. The lyrics came to me a week ago after the incident with Annabeth and the paparazzi. I continued to write when my door opened.

I looked up expecting to see my mom with some blue cookies, but surprisingly it was Annabeth. I quickly closed my journal on instinct. She looked at it as I put it away on top of my desk, but she didn't say anything. "Hard time writing?" she said looking at the ground around me. I looked down. There were several pieces of crumbled paper around me.

"Something like that. So what brought you to my lair?" I asked setting my guitar aside and getting up.

"Couple of us were going to the arcade. Want to come?" She asked still standing by the door, half in the hallway like she was ready to run away if needed to.

"Tempting, but I rather stay here." I turned the offer down. I was starting to get sick of acting for the most time. Even at home I couldn't be myself due to Thalia, Nico and Jason constantly bringing friends over. For the past week I've been cutting class and getting in trouble. Even around Annabeth I was acting like a jerk which seemed to get us in a lot of arguments.

Annabeth rolled her eyes, "Are you to cool to hang out with us now?"

"Something like that." I muttered, but I didn't think she heard me.

Annabeth pursed her lips, "Whatever. If you change your mind, we're leaving in five." With that she closed the door and I could hear her footsteps retreating down the stairs.

I stood there thinking. I looked over at my bean bag chair. My comfy bean bag chair. But heck, it was a Friday night. I decided what I was going to do.

I grabbed my jacket and left out the door.

BLAHBLAHBLAHBLAHBLAHBLAHBLAHBLAHBLAHBLAHBLAHBLAHBL AHBLAH

It ended up being almost the whole lunch crew at the arcade. After a competitive two hours of go karts, rock climbing and a bunch of others games, we ended up at laser tag.

I strapped up my vest and went to get my gun. "You're going down this time, Pinecone Face." I warned Thalia. The last time we played laser tag was two years ago and yet I remembered the day like it was yesterday.

"How's the nose Jackson?" She smirked evilly already ready to go. And that's exactly why I remembered it. It was only the two of us left at the end of the game. I remembered running, thinking I heard her when _BAM _an elbow struck me straight in the face. Needless to say, I lost the game and ended up with a bloody nose. If you hadn't noticed, our family was very competitive.

"Itching for revenge." I punned as she rolled her eyes.

I took the toy gun from the girl working there. She was probably in her early twenties and stared at the three of us in awe. Goode High was getting better with no more escaping from fans. Just a couple autographs and some speechless fans in each class and the occasional run into the city still caught people's attention.

I would have said something to her, but right now I was in game mode. I won only one round of go karts but nothing else. Laser tag was mine.

"Ready to lose Seaweed Brain?" Annabeth came up also getting her weapon.

I looked over at her vest. She was blue, teamed up with Thalia and Silena. I was green with Jason and Beckendorf. Nico was kicked out since he practically sucked at laser tag. He'll win you at rock climbing, but you could beat him blindfolded in laser tag. He was black along with the Stolls who I now knew to keep my merchandise away from. Let's just say, I was short a watch. There were around seven other teams as well. Two were constructed with a couple kids and adults we didn't know.

"Confidence. That's cute." I joked.

"It'll be even cuter when we beat your sorry ass." Annabeth countered. Her gray eyes were staring straight ahead like she was constructing a battle plan right in her head.

"Sorry to burst your bubble, but I don't lose at laser tag Wise Girl."

"Huh. That's not what Thalia said." She remarked, "By the way," she leaned in closer, "I think your nose is a little crooked."

I scowled as she walked away chuckling. _Thanks, Thalia. _I walked over to Beckendorf and Jason, "We need to win." I confirmed.

They both stared at me. "Well we sure as hell aren't going to lose." Beckendorf stated.

I looked back at Annabeth's group who were deep in conversation, "First things first, we take them out. Then we'll deal with the rest of the teams."

Jason nodded along with Beckendorf. Jason also had his personal reason to win. He too didn't like losing to his sister. "We got this in the bag." Jason had always radiated an aura confidence. And with Beckendorf's size, no one was going to take him lightly either.

I looked at Beckendorf and clapped his shoulder. "This is war Beckendorf." I said in a dead serious tone.

He let out a laugh, "I know guys. Relax."

Now it was Jason's turn, "I don't think you get it. Silena's on their team." Beckendorf looked at us saying _what's your point? _"You kind of have a sweet spot for her and we need to destroy their team."

Beckendorf gaped at us like we accused him of murder. I shrugged and nodded in agreement with Jason. "Whatever guys. I could handle her." He argued, but I still had my doubts.

"All teams can now enter the arena," the lady working the game said out of a megaphone.

Each team took a different entrance as we entered. Inside, the place was dark with glowing walls and objects.

"Is this the right time to tell you guys I'm afraid of the dark?" Beckendorf whispered. I stopped dead in my tracks and turned to look at him. Jason looked as bewildered as me. "Kidding!" Beckendorf said, "You two take laser tag too seriously," he muttered.

Oh, I was so close to strangling Beckendorf right now. Luckily the bell saved him-or me since he'd probably beat me into a pulp-and the game started.

"Split up." I commanded already taking a left, my guard up. It gave us more of a chance that one of will survive and win it for us. Together, our stealth was gone.

I walked slowly close to the wall when I heard loud footsteps coming my way. One of the Stolls came into view yelling at the top of his lungs and pointing his weapon at me. "AHHHHHH!"

Aiming, I shot at his heart. The beeper went off and his life line went from green to red. I laughed, "You're worse than Nico."

"I resent that Percy." I looked to my right to see Nico aiming at me. To my left Travis or maybe it was Connor also had his weapon trained on me. _Crud. _All they needed was a shot at the pad right on top of my heart.

The other Stoll was in front of me 'dead' and grinning at me. I did the only thing I could and ran for my life the way I had came. I could hear footsteps running after me. I turned a corner after spotting a figure ahead. After a couple turns, I thought I had lost them when I stopped dead in my tracks.

Nico was standing in front of me grinning like an idiot his weapon already raised at me. "You've gotten better young one." I remarked not daring to aim at him. Even he couldn't miss at point blank range.

He shrugged, "I'm going to enjoy this. For the first time in history the great Nico Di'Angelo has taken down the slightly less great Percy Jacks-" He stopped his speech when a beeper went off. He looked down at himself and saw his light turn from green to red. _Poor guy. You never waste a chance to kill someone. _

"What the f*ck?" Nico asked in shock.

I looked behind me to see a familiar blonde aiming her gun at Nico. I smirked before taking my chance and running past Nico. "Maybe next time Nico!" I shouted behind me.

I stopped, my back pressed against the wall. As the slow and almost nonexistent footsteps came closer, I came out from behind the wall and shot. My aim was perfect. I had killed a pissed Clarisse. I didn't wait to hear her curse me out, and left.

I knew the game was almost over. I had already taken down six people, barely registering their faces before bolting away. So far my path had not intertwined with Silena, Thalia, or Annabeth except for when she saved me.

I walked slowly down the corridor looking down every hallway that came. I stopped hearing the distinct sound of shuffling footsteps right ahead. I aimed, and slowly made my way forward.

Two feet away, the person swung toward me, their gun aiming toward me. Expecting it, I knocked it to the ground with my own gun. Maybe it wasn't the best plan since my gun went flying towards the ground with it. Without thinking, I grabbed the person by their arm and pressed them against the wall.

It was only then that I found out who it was. A grin appeared on my face, "We meet again."

"Was this your brilliant plan?" Annabeth asked her eyes boring into mine. There were only a couple inches between us and I had her trapped against the wall.

"You're not going anywhere now are you?" I said enjoying the fact that I had the upper hand.

She cocked her head to the side, not at all worried or scared, "But how are you going to win without a weapon?"

I lessened the space between us bringing my lips to her ear, "I think I already have."

I could sense the smile that was forming on her lips, "You thought wrong." She whispered back.

Before I had a chance to ask what she's talking about her knee moved up and hit me in the gut. I doubled over taken by surprise and let go of her. In one movement, her hand went to her back side and she brought out another gun and shot me.

I beeped and the pad light went from green to red. The lights turned on and the simulator spoke in a deep voice: _Game Over. _

"No fair! How'd you get another gun?" I accused gripping my side. She had one powerful strike.

"The gun you took away was Jason's" Annabeth smirked, victory in her eyes. And then it clicked. She wanted me to hear her footsteps. She had it all planned out.

"That's cheating." I argued. This did not end how I had planned.

"There are no rules in here Percy," Annabeth patted my shoulder and walked past me toward the exit.

I scowled and followed after her. "You didn't have to hit me so hard." I grumbled and heard her chuckle in front.

We left the arena and met the rest of our friends. Silena and Thalia rushed to Annabeth celebrating their win. I glared at them as Jason and Beckendorf came up to me.

"What happened?" Jason asked obviously taken back by the fact I lost.

I glared at him, "You gave her your gun."

Jason opened his mouth and closed it, "Thalia and Annabeth had me cornered!"

"How'd you get out?" I turned to Beckendorf.

He looked at me shamefully, scratching the back of his head. "Silena." He muttered.

LaserLaserLaserLaserLaserLaserLaserLaserLaserLaser LaserLaserLaserLaserLaserLaser

**Annabeth **

After a game of laser tag where my team successfully beat the rest, a couple of us ended up at a local pizza place. It was Percy, Nico, Jason, Beckendorf, Grover, Thalia, Silena, Juniper and I.

I was surprised Percy had even decided to come in the first place. Asking him was a long shot. After the paparazzi casualty, Percy was back to being the jerk he was when I first met him. He was one confusing guy.

At times when we were alone, he would act sweet with no snide remarks, but as soon as there was a third party, his attitude would change. The worst part was Percy reminded me so much of _him. _In good ways and bad. But I couldn't fall for someone like Percy. Not again. And yet, there was something different about him. I could see it at times like when he left more than enough money for the broken window when he thought I wasn't looking.

We were chatting away laughing about random things when a couple of girls came up to our table, giggling. All of us stared at them as they came closer. There were three of them and they all looked over at Nico, Jason and Percy.

"Excuse me, but aren't you guys The Olympic Rush?" One of them asked.

"The one and only." Percy confirmed.

The girls erupted in more giggles and I had to stop the urge to roll my eyes. I glanced at Thalia who was mimicking puking. "Can we get a picture." One of them, the red head said desperation clearly in her eyes.

The three guys looked at each other. Jason was the first one up and the others followed. Beckendorf also got up volunteering to take the picture.

I watched with a frown on my face as Percy's featured changed. His black hair covering his forehead, definitely giving him the bad boy vibe. His carefree smile gone and replaced with one of his trademark smirks that never seemed to reach his eyes.

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	8. Chapter 8

**Disclaimer: I do not own PJO**

I ate the last of my blue pancakes shoving most of it in my mouth, "Bye mom!" I said through a mouthful already leaving the kitchen following Jason and Nico. We were definitely going to get late if we didn't hurry.

I gulped the last of my breakfast as Jason opened the front door. What was waiting for us outside took me by complete surprise. There were dozens of paparazzi all lined up waiting for us. Once they caught a glimpse of Jason, they erupted with questions. This was the first time they actually came to our house or anywhere near the three of us since we started school.

Jason, like the pro he is, made his way through the camera and reporters with Nico following suit. I went after them ignoring all the questions when one froze me right in my spot, "Percy! Any comment on the mystery blonde?" It was a female reporter with a recorder in her hand; pointed at me.

Jason and Nico kept pushing their way through completely oblivious to the fact I had stopped. I turned to the lady and moved closer, "What? I asked her. I probably didn't hear her clearly.

She seemed pleased I chose to answer back to her. "Who's the mystery girl?" she asked again showing me the cover of a magazine. I grabbed it from her and looked at it. On the bottom right corner, there was a picture of me and Annabeth in the laser tag arena. It was dark but you could see I had her up against the wall and was smiling down at her. The headline said: _Mysterious blonde:_ _Another tease or the real deal? _The only good thing about it was they couldn't see Annabeth's face.

I crumbled the magazine in my hand and made my way through the crowd without answering the questions. Who in Hades took a picture of us?

BEEPBEEPBEEPBEEPBEEPBEEPBEEPBEEPBEEPBEEPBEEPBEEPBE EPBEEPBEEP

"I bet it was one of those girls that were playing laser tag with us." Nico suggested as we made our way to the front of the school.

"My money's on the tall dude. He looked a little too happy when I killed him." Jason put in his own theory looking at the page that showed all three of us playing laser tag. They only had shots of Jason and Nico playing, but that was it. The bigger story was the _mystery girl. _

"It doesn't matter. I just hope Annabeth isn't freaked out." _Or mad at me, _I thought.

"What's the deal with you guys anyways? Does Percy have a crush?" Nico mused. I didn't even try and answer him. Mostly because I didn't know what was going on. We played around, but I had no idea. I was never good with 'feelings.' And then there was the fact that I knew she hated the side of me I was forced to put up and I definitely couldn't tell her the truth. That was too big of a risk.

We entered school and my eyes were already searching for her. I needed to talk to her about the magazine. "I'll see you guys later." I muttered before walking off.

I walked through the hallways when I was stopped short by someone blocking my way. I took a step back after I realized who it was: Drew Tanaka. I've seen her before. She was a soon to be model like Silena under the wing of Aphrodite.

Drew was, well she was hot. She was a tall Asian girl with long brown hair and warm brown eyes. You could tell she wore makeup but she made it work perfectly. To sum it up she was the kind of girl any guy would dream of. What killed her image though was her attitude. Lucky for her, a model just needed to be beautiful on the outside.

"Hey Percy." She greeted me with a sweet smile.

"What do you want Drew?" I cut the chitchat. Let's just say the last time we met, it didn't go well. I will spare you the trouble and not go into details.

She pouted, "What can't a girl visit her favorite pop star?"

"No." I said dryly, "So if you don't mind I need to be somewhere." Before I could leave, Drew cut me off again standing in front of me.

"Don't act like you haven't thought about it Percy." Drew said in a low voice her hand trailing down my chest, "Let's not deny faith."

I grabbed her arm really annoyed now, "The only thing I've thought about is getting away from you," I responded coldly, "Let's get one thing straight Drew. I will never date you or even look at you any manner close to appealing even if I was hung upside down on top of a volcano by wild monkeys and you were the only person that could save me."

Drew didn't seem the slightest bit hurt or taken back. If anything she looked more amused like she expected that kind of response from me, "We'll see about that hon." I watched after her as walked away. _What in Hades just happened? _

HonHonHonHonHonHonHonHonHonHonHonHonHonHonHonHonHo nHonHonHon

I didn't get a chance to speak to Annabeth until we were back in history class and Chiron gave us time to rehearse our speeches.

I walked over to where Annabeth was sitting, "Hey." I greeted. She looked up at me from the book she was reading, nodded and kept reading. "So um, you didn't by any chance read any magazine between yesterday and today?" I asked smoothly.

Annabeth looked up at me raising her eyebrow, "Do you mean did I see the side of my face on a national magazine and read being called 'The mysterious blonde?'"

I stared at her, "Yup that's exactly what I meant." Annabeth stared at me dully and I grinned weakly rubbing the back of my neck, "I'm sorry. I know you don't want any attention or anything. I didn't know or even think that someone might be there-"

"Calm down Percy," Annabeth cut me off, her eyes full of amusement a playful smile on her face. "It's not like anyone knew it was me except for our friends who won't say anything."

I stared at her in shock, "So you're not mad?"

"Nope." She went back to her book, "What do I care what people think. It's not like any of its true."

"Oh" I said unsettled by what she said, "Yeah. You're right." I muttered but she was already absorbed in the book she was reading.

I looked back at the book, "Is that in Greek?" I asked amazed. Annabeth turned to me and nodded looking a little embarrassed. "Wow, now that's cool." How many people could read in Greek in high school?

"Okay class time to start. Levi and Louis. You're up first." Chiron interrupted reading off a clipboard.

The whole class stopped talking as the two of them stood up and started their presentation. I sat silently through multiple presentations on the Greek gods. I almost laughed at one group who took a picture of a makeup kit for Aphrodite. They sure weren't going to get an A.

Finally it was our turn up. I stood off to the side, my hands in my pocket as Annabeth set everything up. She said she had this covered and she was right. I stood leaning against the board as she went on to talk about Zeus and what the statue represented.

When she was finished Chiron spoke, "Very good Ms. Chase. And Percy," he looked over at me, "You have anything to add?" He smiled at me amused by the fact that I hadn't said a word.

"Um," I rubbed the back of my neck, "I took the picture." I motioned to the picture of Zeus' statue on the board. Annabeth rolled her eyes and a couple people snickered. Chiron just shook his head and wrote down something in his clipboard.

I had a feeling my grade wasn't going to be as good as Annabeth's.

BreakBreakBreakBreakBreakBreakBreakBreakBreakBreak BreakBreak

"What do you think it's about?" Jason asked as we walked toward the office. They had the three of us called out of the class and we were supposed to go to the office.

I shrugged, "They found out Nico's really a girl in disguise."

Nico scowled at me as we arrived at the office. We made our way in and the secretary told us to go right ahead into the principal's office.

I entered first and was met by a man with a very cheesy grin on his face, "Boys! Please come in and take a seat." We did as we were told. "How are you guys doing today?"

"I got a D on the cake I baked in home ec," Nico offered after a moment of silence. I held back a laugh. I went into workshop but Jason and Nico were both sent to home ec since there was no more room anywhere else. And they, just like me couldn't cook.

"Glad to here it son." The principal grinned even wider. I shared a look with the guys. Mr. Harris obviously didn't care how our day went. "Now, you're probably wondering why I called you young men down here." We nodded waiting for him to continue, "Well you see. We're having a school fundraiser coming up in a couple months to raise money for a new art building and the school board was hoping if you three might put up a small concert in the cafeteria."Months? That was pretty far off.

So that was what this was about. I looked at the others who also looked unsure, "I don't know Mr. Harris."

"It would really help a lot. I've already asked Ms. Beaurgard to donate which she was rather happy to do, but we will still need more money." He went on to explain. He looked at us, pleading with his eyes. Hades might let us do it, but there was more of a chance he'll say no. Depends on his mood.

I looked at the guys and they seemed to be thinking the same thing as me, "Why not."

Mr. Harris grinned wider telling us how glad he was to hear it. Finally, he let us go and we all but ran out of his office.

"That man is a little to hung up on happy pills for my taste." Nico said.

"No one smiles that much." Jason agreed.

I pulled out my phone as it beeped. I had a message from Hades. My blood boiled as I read it. There was the picture of the magazine with the message: _Don't even think about it_. Jason and Nico probably saw the look on my face because they asked what's wrong.

"Nothing. I'll catch up with you guys later." I told them and walked away. It angered me that Hades thought he could control everything I did. And it made me even angrier that he basically could. It was the deal between my parents. My mom got custody of me and my dad handled my music career which he gave over to Hades.

I was grateful that I had the keys to our car today because I wasn't planning on sticking around at school. Ironically, cutting school is something Hades would want me to do. I walked out the front door barely surprised at the press covering our car. They weren't allowed on school grounds but they could still be in the parking lot. Looking at the time, school was about to end in twenty minutes.

Taking a deep breath I walked over to them. As soon as they saw me, the questions came all over again. _Don't these people have a life? _I walked around the driver's side ignoring all the questions.

"Percy! Is the girl another fling or something more?"

"Who's the mystery girl?"

"Is she the next _Calypso_?"

I stopped and turned at the last question. "What did you say?" I asked him my anger getting the best of me. Before the reporter could say anything else, I punched him straight in the face causing him to drop his camera. This just got the reporters more amped up.

Pushing through, I got in my car and drove off.

**Well I hope y'all liked this chapter. I'm so sorry for not updating for like three weeks! I've been really busy and have alot on my mind to even think clearly! It took forever, but I finally got this chapter to go where I wanted it to. So forgive me and tell me what you think. REVIEW! **


	9. Chapter 9

**Disclaimer: I do not own PJO**

**Percy**

You know that person whose life's job is to listen to other people's problem and give them guidance? Well I hated them. Who gave them the right to judge someone else's life? And then I always wondered who did they go to for their problems?

But on a Saturday morning, that's exactly where I felt I was. I stared at my two cousins that I considered brothers and was wondering what was going on.

Basically they called me to Jason's room, made me take a seat on the couch while Nico locked the door. They looked down at me before throwing an object on the table in front of me. I leaned forward to look at the paper. It was the magazine with me and Annabeth. Before I could say anything, Nico threw down another magazine with the headlines: _Bad boy spiraling out of control _and a picture of me punching the reporter along with another headline of Taylor's newest breakup song.

"I think I look more muscular in this one," I pointed toward the second one.

"No." Nico shook his head, "You look like an idiot in both."

I stared at him dully, "Is this why you called me here because I smell some blue cookies with my name written all over them?" I started to get up but Jason pushed me back down.

"We're not done." His voice was firm. When he wanted to be, Jason could be dead serious. His arms were crossed and he was standing straight ready to take me on if I tried to leave.

I leaned back, "Fine Dr. Phil," I turned to Nico, "Opera. Continue."

The two of them looked at each other and shared a look I couldn't describe. It was somewhere between pity and worry. "We've been thinking and you really need to get a hold of yourself." Jason started.

"I'm fine."

"No you're not. Not since Hades blackmailed you." Jason argued. "You need to stand up for yourself." Nico added in. I looked at the both of them. It seemed like they had rehearsed this before they called me in.

I clenched my jaw, my arms over my chest, defensive. "You both know I can't do that."

"Maybe if you talked to your dad-"

"And he'll do what? We both know our fathers don't care about us. I'm not going to go beg him to fire Hades." I stood up angry now. I wasn't stupid. I had thought about it before, but my father hasn't done one good thing for me. What's changed now?

The three of us stood there in silence. I could see the pity in their eyes and I hated it. "Tyson would understand." Jason said softy.

At the mention of him, I felt like a hundred horses stampeded over me. Tyson is my older half-brother and one of the most caring people you'll ever meet. But he was always treated…differently. Let's just say he wasn't the sharpest tool in the shed, but he had a massive heart. We found out he loved to build things, like a blacksmith, but it was too late to apply for colleges. But one college in Washington was pleased to have him and his skill, but it was very expensive. My mom didn't have enough money and Gabe his dead beat dad was useless. I decided to help him and barely convinced Hades to open my account and pay for it. At first I was grateful, but then Hades started to use Tyson as leverage to make me do what he wanted.

I knew if Tyson found out about Hades he'd come back here and settle with no education and find a job at Ziggs' Burger Joint. "But I wouldn't." I said moving past them. Jason didn't even try and stop me.

"It's not fair. You should be able to live your life. Have fun, sing your own songs, ask Annabeth out." Nico said aloud as I reached the door.

"Who said I liked her?" I questioned challenging them to argue with me. But they didn't. They didn't have to because we all knew I was lying.

Instead Nico went on to say probably the most intelligent thing I've ever heard him say to me, "My dad wants you to be the bad boy right?" I stared at him waiting for him to continue. "Then take a risk."

PJOPJOPJOPJOPJOPJOPJOPJOPJOPJOPJOPJOPJOPJOPJOPJOPJ OPJOPJOPJOPJOPJOPJOPJOPJOPJOPJO

**Annabeth**

"Silena I will not be your waiter." I told her for the billionth time today. She was following me through Percy's house as we made our way to the back. Thalia was always in the back of the house. Why? Who knows?

"But it's our anniversary! And everyone else rejected me." Silena pouted takin about her and her boyfriend, Beckendorf. We found Thalia in the back, sitting on a beach chair and texting away or whatever she was doing on her phone. It was dark outside now, but Thalia liked that part of the day the best.

"Because no one wants to ask you what you want for dessert while you two are busy making out!" I exclaimed. I didn't understand why she didn't just go to a regular restraunt. But no, Silena always went down the hard route when it came to her romantic tactics. The dilemmas of being a teenage model.

"You should just ask Percy." Thalia piped in not even glancing our way.

I raised my eyebrow, and Silena scowled. "Why would he? He runs in the other direction when he sees me." That was true. At one point, Silena went up to his room and Percy made some excuse about blue cookies and bolted out the door.

Thalia rolled her eyes and looked over at us. "Silena you have so much to learn. He owes you for the silent treatment he gave you for two years or whatever. God knows why you don't take that as a blessing," Thalia muttered the last part but we both heard her. "Just tell Nico to help get him somewhere you can corner him."

"Why would Nico help?" I asked listening to Thalia's master plan.

She shrugged, "Poor kid. He always gets shy around girls." She then went back to her phone.

Silena nodded a grin slowly appearing on her face, "You're a genius Thalia!" Silena looked over me, "And you're supposed to be the smart one."

I narrowed my eyes ready to argue when I suddenly I felt like a human Popsicle. I was drenched with ice cold water that was dumped from on top of me. I stood there frozen still registering what happened. I heard Silena gasp as she took a step back. "Nico you dumbass!" Someone shouted from up above. The three of us looked up to see the figures of Nico and Jason on the roof of the house.

They turned to look at us, smiling innocently. "Um hey ladies." Nico said.

"You're dead!" I all but screamed. What was wrong with them!

"Oh hey Annabeth. You look a little under the weather," Nico punned chuckling hesitantly. I could hear Thalia snicker next to me and I glared at her.

"Sorry Annabeth! That was meant for Thalia." Jason said looking down at us gripping onto a bucket.

"Hey!" Thalia shouted.

"Yeah, well anyways. If you need us, we'll be um hiding." Nico added in already backing away. Jason ran after him. I hope they tripped and fell off.

We stood there in silence as I started to shiver. "Way to end the night with a bang huh?" Thalia said. Silena glared at her as she led me inside. I didn't hesitate practically running inside. Sorry Sally, but your kitchen won't be the driest place at the moment.

"You need some dry clothes. Let's go to Thalia's room." Silena went all mother mode on me. She had her right arm around me and started leading me up the stairs. I was trying to tell her that wasn't a good idea, but my teeth wouldn't stop chattering. That was some really cold water.

"Hold it Barbie." Thalia's nicknames were classic, "My clothes don't fit Annabeth." Silena looked back and forth between me and Thalia an _'oh' _expression on her face. I was taller than Thalia by more than a couple inches. Plus she was bigger than me a bit on the muscular side. Honestly, Thalia didn't have many clothes here really. Even though she agreed to live with Sally she made sure everything she had was from her own money."Plus there's the fact she hates my wardrobe with a burning passion." Thalia added in.

Silena studied Thalia, "Hmm. It wouldn't hurt to wear some brighter clothing and maybe some-"

"Guys," I interrupted Silena's beauty tips.

"Oh right sorry!" Silena said letting me go and scurrying away before coming back a towel in hand.

I took it from her and wrapped it around myself. "Thanks." I said grateful and took a seat on one of the chairs. Oh I was so going to get Nico and Jason back for this.

Thalia checked the time, "It's late. Might as well stay the night." She concluded.

"Sleepover! I could do your hair Thalia!" Silena said obviously excited. I would have laughed it wasn't for the fact I was freezing. Thalia gave Silena a look that said: _Not in a million years. _

I stared at Thalia who looked at me, "What? She asked before she realized what I was talking about. She rolled her eyes, "Just ask Percy for something to wear. I'm sure he wouldn't mind." Thalia smirked as I glared at her.

"I rather go back home, thanks." I told her. Walk into Percy's room dripping wet and be like _Oh! Your idiot cousins threw a bucket of water on me. Do you mind if I borrow some clothes? _Yeah, that was not going to happen. At least they could have given me something to wear, but they probably ran out of the house. If they knew what was good for them.

"Have fun walking because I'm not driving." Silena added in her face showing me that she was in fact enjoying this.

I stared at the two people I called my _friends _who were grinning at me and heaved a sigh, "Fine. But I want pizza waiting for me when I get back," I grumbled trudging toward the stairs.

I made my way toward his door and stopped outside. I could hear the faint sounds of a guitar and the lyrics to a song I hadn't heard before. It was different than what the guys usually sang. I opened the door and the music stopped. I stood in the middle of his doorway as he stared at me with a perplexed expression. He was sitting on the beanbag chair that he seemed to love so much, the guitar still in his hands. I gave a small smile, wrapping the towel around me even more. "Hi."

He scrunched his eyebrows at me, "What happened to you?"

"Nico and Jason," I grumbled walking into the middle his room. Percy stared at me wide eyed before he burst into a laughing fit. His guitar fell out of his hands and he was practically rolling on the floor. "Are you going to help me or not?" I snapped after it seemed like he wouldn't calm down anytime soon.

He stopped, chuckling a bit. "You need me to warm you up?" he asked raising his eyebrows grinning at me.

I could feel myself redden at his comment, "Just give me some clothes."

Percy stood up pretending to think, "I didn't hear a please in that sentence."

I glared at him. He was really enjoying this. "Please." I resisted the urge to backhand him and take that cheesy grin off his face.

"Okay," He told me, "But." _Oh dear gods, _"First repeat after me. I Annabeth Chase am here asking the great almighty Percy Jackson-"

"Forget it!" I cut him off losing my patience, "I'll tell Silena to drop me off at home," I told him dryly before turning around and walking away.

"Wait!" I didn't stop until he half ran and stopped in front of me blocking my view of the door. All playfulness was gone in his expression as studied me. "You're probably cold." He summed up. _The Seaweed Brain just noticed. _

He walked off and into his closet and brought back some basketball shorts and a shirt a couple sizes too big for me. But I took them from him gratefully. "There are more towels in the bathroom. You could change in there." He pointed toward the other door in his room.

I nodded, "Thanks."

He gave me a crooked smile, "Hey I always help a damsel in distress." I rolled my eyes and walked off into the restroom.

I came back out a few minutes later fully changed feeling weird but strangely comfortable. The clothes smelled distinctly like the ocean, just like him. "Better?" He asked leaning against his desk, obviously waiting for me.

"Yeah, thanks for the clothes." I smiled gratefully.

He shrugged, "Don't mention it," but he looked pleased with himself.

"What was that song you were singing? Before I came in." I asked curious.

Percy looked a little taken back like he was caught committing theft, "You heard that?"

"It was good," I admitted, "Is it going to be on the next Olympic Rush album or something," I mused.

At the mention of the album Percy's expression turned a little down a frown appearing on his face but he quickly covered it with a small smile, "It was nothing. Just messing around." I stared at him. That was obviously a lie. Percy saw my expression and his hand went to the back of his neck like it did when he was nervous. "My manager wouldn't let me release it," He confessed.

I frowned. Weren't artists allowed to sing their own songs? I mean I knew close to nothing about singers but it seemed logical. "Why not?" I asked.

Percy looked everywhere but at me with a painful expression on his face like he was fighting a mental battle against himself. "It's how things work," He finally said.

At that moment, it wasn't Percy standing in front of me anymore, it was _him._

_A tear rolled down my cheek without me noticing. I stared at him barely registering what he was saying._

"_I'm sorry Annabeth, I tried. But around here, this is just how things work." He told me not meeting my eyes. _

I snapped out of my daze quickly covering up, but I didn't have to. Percy seemed lost in his own world. "You can't let people control you, Percy." He looked at me with an expression I couldn't place. It was something like hope.

Needing to get away, I left him there and walked out of his room. I stopped halfway to Thalia's room and took a huge breath gathering myself. _I wasn't going to cry or feel sorry for myself. He was nothing to me_, I told myself walking into Thalia's room.

Walking in, I stopped staring at Silena. She was in a tank and small pink shorts. "When did you change?" I asked. I didn't remember her bringing any clothes here.

"I went to back to get some of my stuff." Silena answered.

I gaped at her, "Why didn't you take me?"

Silena shrugged, "Leaving you with Percy was more fun."

**Review! It means alot! **


	10. Chapter 10

**Disclaimer: I do not own PJO**

Writing a song wasn't as fun as you would believe it would be. Crumbling up the thousandth piece of paper, I was ready to quit. The chorus was in my head, but once I looked at the piece of paper it would evaporate. Another reason why going to school was bad for me and the guys.

Well, maybe I have to start rephrasing that statement. Jason and Nico are having a blast for the most part. Nico has been enjoying the chase with a girl who doesn't even to seem to know he's famous. This made for a hilarious first encounter. Jason on the other hand, was happy doing whatever.

I took an exasperated sigh as I swung myself out of my trusty beanbag chair and walked out my door. Just thinking about my situation got me tired.

Ready to go ransack the fridge, I made my way toward the stairs. I came to a halt as I passed Jason's room. Taking a few steps back, I looked into his room. What I saw made my jaw hit the floor.

"What . Are. You Wearing?" Jason whipped around like he just got caught with his hand in the cookie jar. He relaxed a little when he saw it was me. "There a party I forgot about or something?"

Jason gave me a dull stare before turning back to his mirror. He was in a black and white suit with a black tie to match. "If you ever paid attention to what I talk about, you would know. Instead you drift from the 'life sucks' mode to "Annabeth land." he accused fixing his tie a little too franticly.

I stared at his reflection blankly. Annabeth land? I chose to ignore his dig at me.

"Soooo…."

He rolled his eyes, "I have a date." He turned around to look at me, "with Piper."

My eyebrows shot up,"Cute Piper?"

"Cute Piper." He confirmed smiling a little. I could tell he was nervous.

That did make sense now that I think of it. They always had this flirting thing going on during lunch. I started to feel bad that I didn't know about it. Have I been that out of it?

"Sorry, man. I haven't been myself lately." I told him rubbing the back of my neck as I leaned on his doorframe.

He shrugged smirking, "Just don't turn into the guy Hades wants you to be."

I didn't reassure him. Giving him another once over, a slither of jealousy running inside me. What I'd give to have a normal relationship. "Just don't mess everything up." I told him referring to his date.

With that, I turned around and made my way down the stairs.

"Hey mom." I greeted as I entered the kitchen. She was bustling around making what seemed like dinner.

"Hey Percy." She smiled at me before continuing mixing whatever was in her bowl. "Dinner will be ready in an hour."

I nodded, not really caring. Most of the time, none of us ate together. Mom and Paul ate too early. I like watching TV when I ate and Nico had this weird thing going where he would eat dinner at midnight. Don't ask why. And I barely ever saw Thalia.

"What's wrong?" she asked as I took a seat on the stool and silently watched her.

I smiled, "How do you know something's wrong?" I challenged.

"Because I'm your _mom_." She answered back.

"Point taken."

"Yes, now spill," she ordered.

"You ever think our lives would be if we never became famous?" I asked her seriously.

She looked up at me a mixture of emotions running through her eyes. "Almost every day," she answered.

"What's it like?" I asked curious. Whenever I thought about it, I would think of being a regular teenager with regular teenage problems. In some fantasies, I would even see my dad once in a while. I knew it was silly.

"We don't have so many nice things, but we have enough. There's you, Paul and me. We're happy. You're happy." She smiled sadly at me. My mom knew about Hades and his intentions. In the beginning we argued a lot about it, but she decided it was my choice and if I wanted to stay in a band where I couldn't be me, then it was my choice.

The oven beeped and my mom ran over with some oven mitts. I imagined her version and liked it. A lot. "That wouldn't be too bad." I told her.

She carried the chicken out and set it down. "It's not too late." I raised my eyebrow questioningly. "You could still leave it all behind."

We let the possibility hang between us and die off. That was always a choice, but both of us knew it wasn't going to happen. My account would be handed over to my mom and we would be done with Hades, but I couldn't leave it all behind. No matter how bad things got, the feeling of being onstage made everything go away. I couldn't leave performing behind for anything. It was my life.

"Maybe." I said, but we both knew it was just an empty possibility.

"Maybe what?" Thalia popped in casually looking between me and my mom.

"We were just talking of how many pinecones to get you for Christmas." I teased.

Thalia scowled and slapped the back of my head, "Watch it Jackson."

"Kids." My mom warned, but couldn't help a smile escape her lips. Thalia knew most of what was going on. It wasn't exactly my decision in telling her. She just found out. Try keeping something from her. It's impossible. I was grateful she hadn't told Annabeth which meant a lot because that was her closest friend.

Page Break Page Break Page Break

Don't ask me how or why I was here. I went out for a walk when I stopped at Annabeth's house. Now, don't think I'm a stalker or anything. We dropped off Thalia a couple of times here.

I gripped the camera that was in my hand. I guess my subconscious knew where I was going before I did. Bringing the collar of my leather jacket closer to me, I walked up the stairs to the building and knocked before my senses kicked back in.

After a couple seconds, she opened the door. The surprise was clear on her face, "Percy?"

I grinned uneasily, "Hey."

She opened the door a little wider showing a lit hallway filled with more books then there was space. "Hey?" she answered back. Annabeth's hair was tied back in a ponytail. She wore an old orange t-shirt and sweats. Weirdly enough, she made it look good.

"Oh!" I exclaimed realizing I was just staring at her. "I brought your camera back," I took my hand back out of my jacket pocket gripping onto her camera. The same one we used for the Zeus project. She forgot to take it back that day.

Her eyes widened a little, "I forgot about that." she grinned taking it back. "Thanks."

I smiled, "No problem." I subconsciously ran a hand through my hair making it messier then it already was.

Annabeth frowned as she looked behind me, "Did you walk here?" I nodded. "Percy that's like four blocks in the dark and cold."

"Good thing no celebrity rapists were out wondering around today huh?" I joked trying not to let the cold get to me.

She rolled her eyes, "You want to come in for a bit?" She asked uneasily.

I nodded grateful to get out of the cold. She moved aside as I walked in. I looked around as she closed the door. The hallway was indeed filled with books all stacked on top of each other.

"Annabeth, who was it?" A feminine voice spoke from the end of the hallway. Not a second later, a woman came out with a pink apron on.

"This is Percy." Annabeth responded.

I gave a small smile, "Hi Mrs. Chase."

Her eyes narrowed, "Hmm," she looked at me, "So you're the member of _that_ band?"

"Uhh yes. Percy Jackson ma'am." I responded uneasily. Way to start off an introduction, she already seems as if she hates me.

"Didn't you punch a reporter just the other day?" she asked coldly the spatula in her hand tapping her arm like she would come after me any second with it.

"Okay. Well we're going upstairs." Annabeth cut in as I stood there speechless. She quickly took the lead and went up the stairs. I nodded to her step-mom and quickly followed after her.

"Sorry about that. She reads a lot of magazines and well you're-not exactly the best figure." Annabeth tried to put it nicely as we entered her room.

"I don't blame her. I'm pretty sure I suck in a lot of parent's eyes." I joked half-heartedly. Looking around her room, I was amazed. Her desk was filled with books and drawings of buildings. Her walls were gray and she had lots of figurines from different places placed around her room on windows, her desk and shelves. It was small, but it was her.

I frowned at I studied the walls. Annabeth caught my dismay and laughed, "You're not going to find out my favorite band."

I looked at her, "Seriously? Not even a poster of this oh so amazing band that's better than ours?"

"I'm not the poster type." Annabeth responded placing the camera on her desk.

The magazines on her desk caught my attention. They were about us and the whole punching a reporter situation. "You're not mad are you?" I asked for the billionth time.

Annabeth looked down at the magazine as she leaned on her desk, her hands clasping the edge of the desk. "Not really. It's pretty cool. Being the _mystery girl."_ She joked.

I laughed, "I'll make sure they don't find out who you are. They won't leave you alone."

"About that," Annabeth said, "What's with all this?" She picked up the magazine with me punching the reporter.

I could feel myself redden, "What do you mean?"

"Was it really that real?" Annabeth asked quietly referring to me and Calypso, but her eyes didn't leave mine once.

I was quiet for a second before deciding to do what I did best, avoid the question. "Why? Are you jealous?"

She rolled her eyes, but a hint of blush was visible on her face. "Just curious," she answered.

After a while, I decided to tell the truth, or as much as I could, "Some of it was, but we decided to stay friends. That's when our mangers thought of using our breakup and relationship as a ploy."

As soon as I explained myself, her expression totally changed, her eyes turning cold, "And you let it go on?"

"I-" I winced from the harshness from her voice. What had gotten into her? "What was I suppose to do?"

"I don't know Seaweed Brain, maybe the truth. Did you ever think what your lies would do to other people?" she continued, her voice rising.

"I didn't plan for any of it to happen!" I shot back defensively, my jaw clenched. None of it was my choice.

"It's your life Percy! What do you mean-"

My eyes widened when I realized how close we had gotten. Looking down at her, I could see the anger in her eyes disappearing as she looked back up at me. "What do you want to do now?" I whispered as I closed the distance between us with another step. We were close enough that I could count the small little freckles on her face.

"I think you should leave." Annabeth whispered as I heard her take a step back. Opening my eyes, I looked at her trying to figure out what just happened. "It's late." She continued; her arms crossed over her chest as she looked anywhere but at me. Her face was red but I didn't know if it was from what would have happened it she hadn't stopped or from the anger that seemed to have trickled back into her voice.

"Okay." I nodded walking backwards toward the door my brain barely registering anything.

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